


Red to White

by Silvered_Fox



Category: Xenosaga
Genre: AU, Gen, Psychic Wolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 21:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6024978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvered_Fox/pseuds/Silvered_Fox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if you added psychic wolves in space? A project for Lupercalia and for writing practice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red to White

**Author's Note:**

> There are ***spoilers*** at least through the end of the second game. If there are points that are fuzzy on the details: I haven't played the series in years and am slowly refreshing my memory - if it's big I'll definitely return to fix it and I apologize for misremembering things. Otherwise it might be intentional due to the addition of the wolves to the universe. 
> 
> The wolves are only loosely based on the Iskryne wolves. There may be differences. This will be branching off from canon events wildly.

Jr. paused near one of the trees on the Durandal. He caught himself drifting in his thoughts as he felt the slight wuff of hot breath from behind from his bondmate.

He winced a bit as he looked at the yearling. Though there wasn't much he could do to fix what he was, did the wolf really have to give up a normal life to be bonded with something frozen in time like him?

He turned and ran his hand through soft fur and wondered what his brother wanted from him.

*leather and gunpowder and metal and old books* He heard directed towards him. "yeah yeah who have you been terrorizing now?" He asked the yearling. He was still a bit gangly, large for any bystander to judge but no where near full size for his kind. A wolf outside of time like his stupid human here.

 _run?_ He felt a gentle tug on his sleeve as jaws large enough to take his head off clamped gently over the fabric of his duster. _tang of metal soft gold brimstone and woodsmoke_ rumbled a playful growl and made as if to drag Jr down the halls with him to get what he wanted. He was certainly large enough to do so. 

He was saved from making the decision of running with his wolf by the realization that he had far too much pent up energy in him from thinking all morning about things he couldn't change. He brushed the few drops of drool off of the sleeve after he reclaimed it from the hopeful teeth of his brother and without hesitating took off full speed with a lightning fast dodge of those same teeth snapping at the hem of his coat in a playful lunge.

He weaved through his ship ignoring the exasperated comments of the passengers at the antics of their master, a blur of shockingly red hair and clothes and the bulk of the beast keeping pace beside him 

At the end of the chase he flopped down catching his breath against the heaving flanks of his brother. He needed that he realized. His brother always seemed to know what he needed better than he let himself see.

He huffed but threw an arm across broad shoulders and just relaxed trying to keep his thoughts from turning back towards the people he'd tried to run from.

 _Thinking?_ He felt a light query as his wolf relaxed, tongue lolling eying the red head and wondering what he was focusing on now.

 _Remembering people_ he sent back. 

A question sent towards him about his irritation made him grin. Even in the middle of nowhere he still was connected to one part of his past, even if it was one part he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to remember.

As he drifted into a light nap against the warm flank he fell back into memories, of the first time he met the warm ball of fur he was settled against, and a time when there was more to his family than just one wolf among the stars, displaced and scattered like the time he'd stepped out of, and before everything had been torn apart by a well intentioned mistake. 

\-------------------------

Rubedo looked out over the pack of experimental wolves the U.R.T.V. were being introduced to. He wasn't sure if this was just another sign of how odd the variants were or if there was something odd with the pups but they seemed to completely ignore the existence of the majority of children.

Of the 7 pups only 4 of them sought out a companion. Eyes locked on a small wiggling russet ball of fluff Rubedo looked at his twin to see him buried under a tiny white equally squirmy ball. For a second he wondered if they were genetically programmed to gravitate to their like color schemes but a mottled looking grey and black wolf pup was giving attention to Citrine, and the tan one he would have expected to have gone to her was calmly snuggled in Nigredo's lap. The others stayed curled up with their mother ignoring the ones who had chosen and been chosen like there were only the four of them in the room, and not 12 children milling about.

He looked back at the ball of fluff that was supposed to become his combat partner and wondered at how this was supposed to help them against U-DO.

 

2 months old the wolves were walking and getting into everything. The ones who were left that never bonded no matter how many U.R.T.V were presented to them were taken away. He had never asked what was done with the rest of the pack and he never saw the leftover pups again. Eventually other batches of pups had been brought in until all of the rest had been claimed by a partner.

\------------------------------------------------------------

There was something rather exciting about training a rapidly growing ball of fluff - all leg and giant paws that he was slowly growing into. 

Almost one year. The moment that everything fell apart.

They had been summoned to follow through with the reason for their entire existence. To end the war. All they had to do was hold the connection steady. 

All they had to do.

He twitched in his sleep as his dreams shifted to that moment that tainted everything. That tore away all that he'd known and loved.

He remembered the feeling of static filling the air. The warmth of his brother's hands in his own, and the hive mind like feeling of connection with the pack. The bristle of fur and the faint hum of a growl coming from a dozen throats at once. All focused on the one goal. That he was in charge of.

And then the moment when he realized that if they held the connection they would all be destroyed. He would watch his brothers burn, and the planet with them. The memory of his brother's desperate plea, raw and terrified for him not to let go, not to drop out of the meld, not to leave him but it hadn’t been enough to hold him to their task. The suicide mission their so called father had set them on knowing what their anti U-DO wavelengths would do if unleashed.

The chaos of 2 dozen dying voices, human, wolf as U-DO rushed in and took over and destroyed most of their brothers. Howls ripping through the air mingling with the screams of their bonded as the insanity raged through them with the speed of the virus that it was. And the loss of the link that had always been, leaving him frightened and alone, torn off from each other and knowing it was his own doing. Breaking the link - what could he have been thinking?

But if he didn't... they still would have all been dead right now. And billions of people with them. 

His distress worked it's way through the bond until he was woken up with slobber all across his face and a firm reminder that _Alive - we're alive. He’s alive._

He looked at the still puppyish muzzle of a wolf that should have been full grown a few times over by now and felt another surge of regret. Any time he looked at his brother’s form it was as much a blow as looking into the mirror. He wasn’t even sure that his brother knew what he was missing by not aging. 

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

Later that night after laying down for what he’d hoped would be a peaceful night, Jr. woke up with a jolt.

Not for the first time, and not for the last by warm fur and a wet nose - tongue licking short hair into rougher spikes and waves of comfort radiating off of the shivering body curled as closely around the boy as it could, and attempting to curl tighter as he pulled his brother out of the nightmare he was trapped within.

"This has got to stop being a regular occurrence" he murmured but was only met with understanding eyes and another rough bath. _Not much we can do to erase the past._

 

Jr. felt the night crushing in and focused as intensely as he could on the sounds of his brother. The soothing rumble of breath inhaled and exhaled. The rise of the chest pressed against him still and the thud of the heart beating in time with his. Like another heart that used to beat with theirs.

The heart he was trying to stop thinking of right now.

ALIVE. They were still alive and no amount of nightmares would change that. Even if his past was racing towards him again, the reminder of everything he'd lost and done coming full tilt with no chance for explanations or time to brace themselves.

He let his head drop into his hands. How was he supposed to explain his past to his new companions?

It wasn't like it wouldn't come out. There was no way not with Albedo as obsessive as he was. He'd latch onto the hints of the trail and follow it straight towards what he wanted as single minded as the wolf he was bonded to and there was nothing they could do to shake him from the scent.

He curled his fist into the yearling's scruff knowing that even if he held on as tightly as he was desperate to that it wouldn't actually hurt the pup and needing the tactile sensation to remind him that the nightmare was just a nightmare and that his past wasn't come to haunt him just yet.

But it wouldn't last for much longer.

He laid back down, settling against the gently rising and falling chest and let the sound of his wolf's heartbeat lull him into the false promise of peace that sleep always tempted him with but never gave.

He really was dreading their next meeting.

\-----------------------------------------------

 

A white blur raced forward and had him pinned before he could even think to move. His reflexes failing him and the speed he prided himself on no use against the superior strength of his younger brother.

"Well well there Rubedo. Fancy meeting you here" The voice dripped with insincerity, warm breath ghosting across his ear.

"Albedo" He growled out unable to do anything but struggle against a force he couldn't break free of. His heart sped up at seeing how much his brother had aged.

A whine and a cut off growl reflected the similar struggle being mirrored by their counterparts. A giant white wolf stood pinning the russet yearling like it was no effort at all. Dirt flew around them as the smaller wolf scrabbled beneath the bitch over twice his size as he tried to get some purchase but only managed to dig out furrows of earth and clumps of grass. 

Even knowing it was useless to struggle against the greater strength that held them, they struggled anyway refusing to give in. 

He tried to reach for one of his guns, tried to squirm free or land a blow on his twin as his wolf tried to squirm his way free but it was light fighting a hurricane. He took a breath to try and shout for someone, at least catch the attention of the rest of the party but an arm snaking it’s way across his throat cut off that plan before he could let out a word more.

His lungs started to burn as he struggled harder, now his body reacting automatically to the loss of air as he twisted to get free but Albedo’s grip was tighter than he could break. He felt the panic down the link to his furbrother and the smugness radiating from his brother’s bitch and the soft silk of the glove covering the arm cutting off his air supply before everything faded to black.


End file.
